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To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

Hello! My baby is currently 7 ½ months old. We started solids right around 6 months. When he was breastfeeding only, prior to 6 months, he had a bowel movement every 5-10 days or so. After starting solids I expected the bowel movements to become closer together, but lately it seems as if they are further apart. It is apparent that he is constipated. His last poopy was quite hard and by the end of pushing it out he was screaming and the poopy before that, well, I don’t even remember when it was. What I tried before calling the pediatrician was 2 oz of water everyday and very few solids. I called the pediatrician’s office the other day and the nurse (who doesn’t always give the greatest advice) said to cut out all cereal ( we were only using oatmeal once in a while), and to feed prunes. I read on another post on here that most p fruits would work. So for the last 5 days or so we have done only p fruits, peaches, pears, prunes. We have also done prune juice diluted with water (giving juice so early is totally against what I stand for, but I feel bad for the little guy!!). Since doing all that he has only had the one poopy which I described above.
So my question is, if you had a baby that pooped so infrequently while only nursing, did he/she continue to poop that infrequently after starting solids?? It doesn’t seem normal to me…
Thanks for reading!

Re: To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

That was my experience with my first child. At around 5 months, she became an infrequent pooper and as she started solids the pattern continued. I would start by feeding your LO only whole grains, fruits and veggies (with the exception of bananas and apples, which can be constipating), and seeing if he starts getting into a more regular poop pattern. I would also keep a poop journal- as you said, it can be hard to remember if your kid pooped 5 days ago or 7 days ago, or was it 9 days ago? If you can show your doc that your LO is in a consistent pattern of infrequent poops, the may be something you want to do about it, like giving a stool softener. But do fruits and veggies and a journal first!

Re: To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

this happened to my dd recently (she's 11 months this week). what we did that really worked: I cut back her solids from twice/day to once/day and gave her only pears, peaches, prunes and whole grains. mixed in with her solids: 1/2 tsp of infant probiotics and a 1/2 tsp of flax seed oil. this really got her going but it still took a few bowel movements for things to completely soften up. she's now pooping every few days and it's much softer and more breastfed consistency again. I'm keeping the probiotics and flax seed oil as a regular part of her diet now. I read that adding water to a diet doesn't neccessarily add water to the stool (only makes baby pee more)... I'm on my phone and don't have the link handy right now but will try to link it for you later. hope this helps your LO, good luck momma!

Re: To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

My son wasn't an infrequent pooper when exclusively breastfed but gets constipated easily with solids. I've found if he eats steel cut oatmeal almost everyday it keeps him regular. I agree lots of fruit should, but it seems the oatmeal works immediately for my son. He can't have any potatoes, especially sweet potato, or he's instantly constipated.

Re: To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

It is fairly normal for them to become constipated with the introductions of solids. And that does sound like constipation. The advice to back up out of cereal is good. As is the P fruits. But the best thing you can do is breastfeed MORE. The baby doesn't have enough fluid to moved the new solids through. When ever I would get the "stinky marbles" I would breastfeed more to get the softer consistency poop. More breastmilk is the best laxative.

Re: To Mamas of Infrequent Poopers

My son had trouble with constipation and hard BM when he was younger. Prune juice became our friend, we would mix an ounce or so with a cup of juice (around 1 year we gave him juice for breakfast instead of cow's milk). we also looked for foods high in fiber.

Full time working Mom to 3, DH is my hero as a SAHD:
DS July'09, nursed for 12 weeks
DD1 & DD2 April'11, tandem nursed for 16 months